Get Who I Am.

I’m Michelle, a thirty-year-old wannabe foodie who juggles marriage, work, running, cooking and life. There’s so much more I could say within this page but I’ll leave it at this: I’m a follower of Christ, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, an overachiever, an amateur photographer, an aspiring runner, a budgeter, a voracious reader, a dreamer and a lover of food. I hope that you enjoy this blog of sorts as I navigate through life and especially my kitchen, in the hopes of filling my husband’s stomach with good food, keeping our arteries unclogged (well, at least I’ll try), being adventurous in my endeavors and keeping a good handle on my grocery budget.

But, I bet you’re thinking, “Not another food blog!”

I understand.

There’s a myriad to choose from, from ethnic cuisine to budget cooking, from fancy-shmancy food blogs to ones written by wannabe foodies like myself. I get tired-head myself from looking at the lists of blogs out there. So, for simplicity’s sake, this IS another blog but it’s not just about food.

“What is it about, then?”

Glad you asked! This little space on the web is my way of documenting my adventures – especially in the kitchen (my attempts in feeding my husband while not burning down the place, quite an accomplishment, let me tell you). I will most definitely blog about recipes I try and post pictures of the resulting dishes. But I will also write about ways I meal-plan (I still haven’t gotten that down perfectly, so I’m open to suggestions!), budgeting our household finances (I’m the budget buff around here) and money-saving tips, DIY projects I tackle around our new-to-us 1300 sq ft house, shout-outs to my favorites (from restaurants around town and elsewhere to my favorite movies) and a few other random things we’ll call “life”. See the useful CATEGORIES below:

Recipes

Running

Meal-planning

Finances

Home/DIY

Favorites

Life

And, just a little bit more info about myself:

“Are you an expert at anything?”

Absolutely not, unless you count being a multi-tasker as an area of expertise. I do a little bit of everything, from trying to come up with my own recipes (albeit pretty unsuccessfully) to getting over my fear of eating raw onions and tomatoes, doing photography as a hobby and a small business when I have the time, reading books and magazines, maintaining friendships and serving my local church and community, among other things.

“Anything interesting about yourself?”

Sure! I think I’m somewhat interesting (I hope). I was born in Manila, Philippines but grew up in the great state of Texas. I had my first baby in April 2012 – our little man is now 3 months old (as of July 17) and counting! I’ve run seven 5ks, two 10ks and four half-marathons. I’m not a born runner, but I make do with what I have and try to run a little faster than before. What can I say? I’ve been bitten by the running bug and I love it! I have an extensive pencil collection that I started when I was in the third grade (I have pencils from the Holy Land all the way to Hollywood). I can play the acoustic guitar and can carry a tune but I leave all the musical things to my husband – he’s the talented musician in our household. I also work full-time as an administrative assistant, helping faculty and students at a local university. I have been to Mexico and Ireland three times, visited India twice, and traveled to Canada, England, China and Ethiopia once, on separate occasions. I am a self-proclaimed Sherlock Holmes nerd and have read every single story in the canon, plus own almost all the definitive Jeremy Brett British television serials of the famous detective. I love Mediterranean food and southern fried cooking and I love helping people. I like learning about mushrooms and of course, cooking and eating the ones I can afford. (One day, I WILL taste a white & black truffle mushroom. One day!)

finishing the last bit of dessert. desperation, anyone??

I love coffee!

me after a run at the park

Got any other questions or comments, or have any recipes to share? Feel free to drop me a line! thecookinglife [at] gmail [dot] com

“Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!” – Auntie Mame

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All photos and text are copyrighted by The Cooking Life - aka, me! If you want to use a photo (or text) from this blog, please make sure to give credit to the photographer (or author) - that would be me again. And kindly include my blog link on your website, too. You don't need to inform me beforehand, but just give me credit. Okeydokey?
Also, please don't make money off my photos - that would make me very sad indeed.
And this concludes the legal shenanigans.